Film exposes cancer epidemic downstream from Koch Industries plant

Residents of a small Arkansas community say that the toxic pollutants being dumped for years by a Koch Industries plant is killing them.

Only 15 families reside around Penn Road and already 11 people have died of cancer. Even more are sick.

In a new documentary by Brave New Foundation, several of them explain that the problem can be traced to a series of canals where Koch-owned Georgia-Pacific has been dumping chemicals for years.

USA Todayrecently found that schools in the city of Crossett ranked the highest in the nation for exposure to cancer-causing toxins.

“They have cut this huge channel and it is like an open sewer line,” activist Cheryl Slavant told Brave New Foundation. “If you could follow it in a straight line, you would be right at Georgia-Pacific’s plant, owned by Koch Industries… Once I saw this, I knew that Koch Industries were the culprits. They know that these people are sick.”

Penn Road resident David Bouie has invited billionaire David Koch to his home to “see for yourself- the fog- and smell for yourself- the rotten air- that I live with every day.”

“I pray that I might be able to convince you to clean up this mess and relocate us like Georgia-Pacific did for other communities like ours,” he wrote. “I can’t afford to relocate on my own, and who would want to buy my home with the smell here?”

About the Author

David Edwards has served as an editor at Raw Story since 2006. His work can also be found at Crooks & Liars, and he's also been published at The BRAD BLOG. He came to Raw Story after working as a network manager for the state of North Carolina and as as engineer developing enterprise resource planning software. Follow him on Twitter at @DavidEdwards.